Key Points
- Locum tenens should be repositioned as a strategic retention tool, helping health systems support and keep current physicians, not just fill short-term gaps.
- Physician burnout is driven by sustained workload and understaffing, making retention a systems-level workforce design issue rather than an HR problem.
- Using locums proactively reduces pressure on core teams, protecting PTO, easing call burden, and maintaining patient access during vacancies.
- When aligned to a broader workforce strategy, locum tenens improves stability, helping prevent turnover, preserve continuity, and strengthen long-term workforce resilience.
Most healthcare organizations still evaluate locum tenens through a narrow lens: cost, coverage, and speed to fill. That view misses the bigger opportunity, especially in a workforce environment defined by burnout and rising vacancies.
In today’s market, locum tenens should not be seen only as a short-term staffing solution. It should also be considered a physician retention strategy.
That shift matters because one of the biggest threats to physician retention is not compensation alone. It is sustained exhaustion. When physicians operate for months without meaningful relief – carrying repeated call burdens, absorbing extra patient load during vacancies, or struggling to take real time off – the risk of disengagement rises. Recent AMA data found that almost 42% of physicians reported at least one symptom of burnout in 2025. The association has also highlighted the link between understaffed care teams, burnout, intent to reduce clinical hours, and intent to leave.
In 2025, nearly 42% of physicians reported experiencing at least one symptom of burnout.
American Medical Association (AMA)
This is why retention can no longer be treated as a downstream HR issue. It is a workforce design issue.
The National Academy of Medicine has long argued that clinician burnout is a systems problem tied to work environment, workload, team design, and organizational support, not just individual resilience. In other words, if health systems want to improve retention, they must address the operational conditions that make physicians feel trapped in the first place.
The stakes are high. When a physician leaves, the impact extends far beyond recruiting expense. Organizations also absorb lost productivity, service disruption, strain on the remaining medical staff, and increased risk that burnout spreads across the team. At the same time, workforce pressure is not going away. The AAMC projects a national physician shortage of up to 86,000 physicians by 2036, which means replacing talent will remain difficult in many markets and specialties.
The United States will face a physician shortage of up to 86,000 physicians by 2036.
Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC)
That is where a more strategic use of locum tenens can help.
Used thoughtfully, locum tenens can create breathing room for employed physicians before fatigue turns into attrition. It can protect vacation time, so physicians actually take PTO. It can reduce excessive call burden during periods of vacancy or rapid census change. It can support coverage for parental leave, medical leave, or other life events without shifting the full burden to the permanent team. And it can stabilize access while leadership recruits for the right long-term hire instead of rushing into a poor-fit decision.
These use cases reflect a broader truth: temporary support can help preserve long-term workforce stability.
This requires a different executive question. Instead of asking, “How do we spend less on locums?” leading organizations are increasingly asking:
“How do we use staffing flexibility to keep our best physicians engaged, productive, and committed?”
That is a more strategic question because it recognizes that workforce stability is not just about filling an open shift. It is about protecting the people already carrying the system.
Of course, not every locums engagement supports retention equally. If the clinician fit is poor, the onboarding is rushed, or the relationship is purely transactional, the organization may solve for coverage without reducing pressure on the core team. The value comes when locum tenens is aligned to a broader workforce strategy: easing burnout risk, sustaining service lines, preserving patient access, and giving permanent physicians a more workable environment.
The most effective leaders understand that retention is rarely improved by messaging alone. It improves when physicians experience real relief, stronger team support, and a system designed to make excellent care sustainable. Locum tenens cannot solve every workforce challenge, but it can be a practical and immediate lever when used intentionally.
In that sense, locum tenens is not simply a labor expense. It is an investment in continuity, stability, and retention. And in a market defined by burnout, shortages, and rising demand, that is a strategy more healthcare organizations should take seriously.
Tim Fischer
President
Tim Fischer is President of Jackson and Coker Locum Tenens, one of the nation’s largest physician and advanced practice locum tenens staffing firms. With more than 30 years of executive leadership experience, Tim has built and grown companies across healthcare staffing, IT staffing, and professional services.
Since joining Jackson and Coker in December 2019, Tim has focused on strengthening the company’s culture, developing leaders, improving execution, and helping healthcare organizations use locum tenens as a strategic workforce solution. His leadership is grounded in the company’s mission: connecting providers and communities to transform lives.
Tim is known for building values-based cultures, leading turnarounds, scaling teams, integrating acquisitions, and driving sustainable growth. His leadership style emphasizes accountability, quality, disciplined execution, and developing people to reach their full potential.
A lifelong competitor and supporter of athletics, Tim is also a member of the Illinois Basketball Hall of Fame.
